What’s

your

thief?

    A woman that I had just met told me an incredible story. She was 74 years of age and her husband had passed away recently. One of the things that she did to keep active was clean the church. I am sure it was also a way to fill in the time; a void that her late husband had left. She had an amazing peace that her husband was now with Jesus and she rejoiced in the fact that he would never feel pain again.

 She described that the church paid her $25.00 per visit to clean the church. But, that she would not be getting paid any longer. She cleaned twice per week so, that came out to around $200.00 per month. In the short amount of time that we talked, she made it a point to let me know the incredible part of this story. The church had not decided to quit paying her. She did!

 Getting paid to serve was robbing her, of all her joy, working for the Lord. And she would either do it for free, or not clean. She was finding the work, as a way to say thank you to God for His Grace, and for taking care of her late husband. $25.00 was a thief to her expression of gratitude.

What’s your thief?

 God saved you by his grace when you believed.

And you can’t take credit for this;

it is a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8 NLT

Our mighty struggle with the concept of grace is depicted in a cartoon strip called, “Dennis The Menace.”

Mrs. Wilson has just given Dennis and Joey a handful of cookies for the walk home. But, a puzzled Joey can only ask one question,…

“What have we done to deserve these?”

The great theologian Dennis states, “ Mrs. Wilson doesn’t give us cookies because we are nice, she gives us cookies because she is nice!”

God has given us so much more than a handful of cookies; He has given us something much sweeter. He has given us life; He has given us….

GRACE.

Being a parent I find myself repeating things over and over, seems sometimes my children don’t listen, don’t remember, or just don’t get it. about the third time I find myself rolling my eyes.

I Have been reading the book of John and wonder if Jesus ever rolled his eyes. He was fully man, right? & even though the bible may not translate it, I would think from time to tome Jesus was like “really? I’m pretty sure I told you this like 5 times”..so maybe, John 14:5(a) Jesus rolled His eyes. or, John 6:52 (a) Jesus let out a deep sigh and muttered “really” under his breath.

I’m not to be excluded from this, it seems I need to be reminded of what Jesus taught or how I should apply it. maybe it’s just me, but sometimes, after I loose my temper, or make a wrong decision, or dwell too much on crap, one word in my head tends to make me redirect…”Really?”

A while back I gave a guy something he needed in his home. I think I was as blown away by his reaction as he was by getting it. He tried to pay me what he could and kept saying said he owed me. I assured him he owed me nothing and need not pay me back, it was a gift, no strings attached (no he didn’t need to listen to me preach before he could leave either).

So there’s the economy we carry from material world to every other part of our lives. We think that everything comes at a price. Trust me I’m just getting used to this myself. It’s kind of the “love without condition” carried further. If by doing something for you, I expect (even eventually) something in return, maybe it’s just your friendship, or admiration, then I’m not doing it for you at all, I’m just bartering for something for myself.

I think giving is easier with strangers, maybe people you will never see again, do a random act of kindness and walk away, never expecting to see them again, and they can never pay you back. It seems a lot harder among acquaintances, maybe hardest in relationships. We’ve been raised in this “point” system; I help you with your car, later when my computer dies you help me.

In relationships, try to remember the beginning, think back to when just being with that person was the goal, didn’t matter what you were doing, just being around them was enough. Let a relationship last long enough and we tend to put it to the “point system” more and more it becomes what we’ve done for the other or what we can do, or vise versa “what have you done for me lately” or “look at all I do for you and what do I get in return?” well if you’re looking for something in return you weren’t really doing it for the other person were you?. As our relationships with God are compared to a marriage I think we tend to go down the same path, we forget where our faith began, when just knowing he was there was enough.

I’m not throwing out acts of love or intentionality that come naturally through love. But if you buy your wife flowers on valentines merely BECAUSE it’s Valentines Day, it is in your heart, an empty gesture, really, just acting out of obedience or obligation. The same can apply to our faith lives.

So now I get to the point where I may be wrong. But… we are told to go out and spread the Gospel… Gospel means “good news” I’m pretty sure the good news isn’t “well Christ died on the cross now you should feel guilty and not do anything wrong and make sure you read your bible 5 times a day and here’s a check list of do’s and don’ts”.. I’m pretty sure the Good news is the price is paid, “it is finished” not “hey, now the ledger shows you in the red so you owe me”.

There are many Christians who take God’s grace and subtly twist it, manipulating it, until finally it produces lasciviousness in God’s people by preaching a false Christ, through a perverted concept of grace. (Jude 1-4). Satan persuades some Christians that they can still hold to God’s truth while indulging a sin because Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:11-14).

Jesus called lasciviousness a sin of the heart, “that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness” (Mark 7:20-22).

The writer of Hebrews urges us, “Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).

God hates sin, judges sin & chastises the sinner. No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient, Eph 5:5-6. The false gospel of grace is empty words, purposed to deceive you – to convince you to do nothing, remaining in your sins, so your soul is destroyed. The workings of grace to teach us how to live are a process of repentance, the process produces purity, righteousness, and the fruit of the Spirit.

We all know Jesus Christ is so forgiving but after forgiveness he says, Sin no more. Repent or perish.

Jesus told Paul he sent him : “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, release from sin’s slavery, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified and purified by faith in Me.”

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Rom 6:15.

By grace, we are shown our sin by the Holy Spirit. We repent by denying ungodliness and lusts, to living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. If we are slaves to sin, he can’t be our Lord. You cannot serve two masters. Mat 6:24,Luke 16:13

Some Christians might quote these verses”There is no one righteous, not even one; Romans 3:10

There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. Romans 3:11

All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Romans 3:12

We cannot obtain righteousness by following the Law. They were many righteous men and women in the Bible .Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, Isacc, Rahab, Ruth, Debrorah,Noah Miraim and many others were all found righteous before the Lord.But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. Rom 3:21

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, Rom 3:22

So grace, is not a license to continue to sin. We are not condemned while we are waiting to be cleansed, but per Paul again, we have to continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12

True faith results in true works.Faith, grace, and good works are like a three legged stool. If any one is missing, the thing will not stand. God’s grace in us, if we really have it through faith, will always result in good works. Believer dwells upon this grace of God in which he now stands, it will motivate him to do good works. Titus 2:11, 12.

Scripture says about Good works:

(Jude 1:4, 2 Timothy 3:5, Rom 3:8, Rom 6:1-15, Php 2:12-13, Eph 5:5-7, 1 , James 1:21-22, Eph 2:10, 1Pet 1:17, Eccl 9:1, Rom 2:6, 2Cor 11:15, Eccl 12:14, Rom 2:9-10, 1Jn 3:11-12, 1Cor 3:13-15, John 3:21, 1Thes 5:13, 2Tim 2:21, 1Tim 6:18, Tit 3:8, Tit 3:14, Tit 2:13-14, 2Cor 6:1,5, Col 1:10, Gal 6:2-5, John 5:29, 1John 2:29, Jam 4:17, Rev 2:4-5, Rev 3:1-2, 2Tim 4:14, 1Jn 3:18, Rev 2:19, Rev 14:13, Rev 2:2, Rev 20:12, Rev 2:23, Rev 22:12, 1John 2:17, Rev 2:26, Rev 3:8, James 2:14-26

By God’s grace we are saved, forgiven, and our sentence of death is pardoned as we are washed clean of the stain of sin by the blood of Christ, whose sacrificed blood covers us in His righteousness when we put on the breastplate of righteousness, the righteousness of Christ. Those who are in Christ are dead to sin, under no circumstances they continue to live wickedly instead they have been raised to walk in newness and purity of life, lives of righteousness, morality and integrity.

Shining Perspective

“Wow, Isaiah look at the sky!” “Oh. Umm…Mommy? What about the sky?” (Ok back up! It was spectacular! I’ve tried to capture it with words several times now and I just can’t seem to do it justice, so I will just say it was absolutely beautiful! It was stunning!) God’s glory shines in each new day; He gives us a freshly painted sky every morning. I had to stop, because it was clear that we were not looking at the same sky. As I looked at it, I looked at him and identified why we weren’t looking at the same sky. Sunglasses. I removed my glasses and when I did the sun was so bright that its light actually overwhelmed the picture. I gave Isaiah my glasses and he said, “Wow mommy, you’re right that is an awesome sky!” So often it is the same with my circumstances, if they are not viewed through the cover of God’s grace and mercy, if I am not wearing my faith glasses, my circumstances are too bright, they are overwhelming and they blind me.

What do they blind me from? Not what, but who? Jesus. I simply lose sight of Jesus. We live in a world that is overloaded with gizmos and gadgets, and over-available media cramming the next “big thing” down our throats. A world that is convincing us that we need far more than we do and teaching us to constantly live in a state of discontent, essentially we are distracted. I know I am. It’s no wonder to me that many of the most amazing works, testimonies and devotions I’ve read were written sometime prior to the early 1900’s. By now the obstacles that steal my attention shouldn’t surprise me and yet they still do. I find when sitting down with the intention to write, I can get distracted by the vast choices of where I can go with a click of a button. (Somehow that doesn’t happen when I sit down with a journal and a pen.) I have also learned that even while I am serving the Lord, I can get distracted from Jesus Himself.

I am coming out of a difficult season. It has been filled with nothing but surprise after surprise, some good and some bad.  God has answered some prayers in surprising ways and I have received what I can only describe (for now) as a mind-blowing miracle in the midst of it all. Through the tough moments and wonderful blessings one thing remains…I fall so short. I almost never land where I think I will when I jump. My own will often deceives me. I repeatedly find myself left with these challenging questions that surface when I’ve been tested. Can I be as diligent in thanksgiving, in seeking Him, in the simple beauty of tarrying with Him, as I am in persistently asking for what I think my needs (my desires) are? Can I just love Jesus with the same dedication as I give to acts of service? Can I surrender all parts of my life, at all times, not just in worship or at certain times of the day, but always?

In and of myself, no I cannot. (“In whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?” ~Job 12:10 NASB) I can’t make myself breathe. I can’t make my heart beat. I can’t grow the hair on my head.  I can’t do anything apart from Him. (“For in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’”~Acts 17:28 NKJV. The NASB says it this way: “For in Him we live and move and exist…For we also are His children.” And the CEV says: “And he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are.”We are his children…”)

When I choose to look at my circumstances, when I choose to look at the world, when I choose to walk by sight even though I know I’m called to walk by faith; I lose my clear view of Jesus. Once I take my eyes off of Jesus, essentially I lose my joy. (“…the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ~Nehemiah 8:10 NIV) I fail to see the details of my life, my circumstances through those indescribable faith glasses, where mercy and grace abound in Christ Jesus each and every new day.

What is the question that I should ask at the end of the day? The same one we all should be asking.

Did I walk with God today?

(“…walk humbly with your God.”~Micah 6:8 NIV “”…As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people’.” ~2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV)

“Christ is not so much interested in pointing us to a place or path as he is in pointing us to a Person and a relationship.” -Ravi Zacharias

A while back I was at Jiffy Lube, sitting in the waiting room…waiting. I was on facebook when the lady next to me asked what People do on facebook. I told her I’m doing a daily bible reading and posting my thoughts on what I read that day. Then the conversation got interesting.. She asked me if I thought I was better because I was a Christian. Then proceeded to explain to me how a contractor she used had the “fish” on his card and proceeded to dupe her out of money(the whole fish or cross as a marketing device is another topic). I told her it sucked when people do that and apologized for “Christians” in general. Then she asked again “do you think you’re better because your a Christian?”   What tumbled through my head was few answers. one being yes, the bible says I am, I mean of coarse I am, I have the creator of the universe residing in me, of coarse I’m better than someone who doesn’t, but that didn’t come out.  Thank you God. I actually kind of flipped it “define good, your version of good, the worlds version of good, or God’s version of good? cause I figure on the world’s version I’m way above Hitler, but far below Gandhi. I can tell you this, I’m better than I was for sure!! I sometimes judge myself against other Christians and realize that scale is even broken… I don’t know what their starting points were, what trash was in their lives that isn’t now, what they are still battling.” at this time I realized I went into my not so famous “preacher mode” and had an audience of about 5.

So I closed with this “I know this, I’m not good, but I know the one who is, and I try everyday to follow him, and when I do, and when I’m obedient, not just good things, but awesome things happen” as if on Que the guy called my name handed me my keys and I walked out.

I like the term radical, it’s been given a bad reputation when tied to religion. We constantly hear about “radical religious” people doing harm, protesting at funerals, even murder, all in the name of God. However when I read the Bible I see a different type of Radicalism. Isaiah 58 (that’s Old Testament for those who think the Old Testament is hell fire and damnation) talks a lot about the wrong/right way to be radical.

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
and remove the chains that bind people.
Share your food with the hungry,
and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

I know there are a lot of don’ts in the Bible and we tend to focus on these, there are a lot of do’s in there also. I try to live my life focusing on how the Bible tells me to act in love. Odd thing it’s actually easier to focus on the don’ts. If you love someone, you don’t steal from him, don’t lie about him, don’t sleep with his wife, and don’t murder him (see the Ten Commandments) easy right? Basically if you can ignore that your neighbor exists, you can do these. Now the do’s, those are extreme, just a few, feed him, forgive him, fight for him, listen to him, cry with him, share what you’ve worked so hard for with him. The list is a lot longer than that. And a radical will not just do these things but seek out opportunities to do them.

We have all seen radicals on both sides of this coin, which one do you think is changing the world?(even if it is only 1 persons world) Which do you think is pleasing God?

Is Allah the God of the Bible? Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?

Islam has become a major force in the world today. Because they believe in a few of the things Christians and Jews do, especially monotheism (one God), there is question as to whether Allah and the Judeo-Christian God are the same.

Son of God? Who is God?

Let’s start by looking at the God of the Bible. He is called Elohim when the Godhead is emphasized, and Yahweh when referring to His nature as one god.

This means that God shows Himself in three distinct ways, yet He is one God. If a man is married with children, and his father is living, he behaves (or, should behave) in a different manner toward his father than he does toward his wife, and in yet another way toward small children. He is still the same man. Another example is an egg – the yolk, the egg white, and the shell are all part of the egg. And yet, they are distinct. Finally, there is water. The chemical formula for it is H2O. H2O exists as a solid, liquid and gas all at the same time, in different part of the world.

So, we see the Godhead – what some call the Trinity – is very clear. God manifests Himself as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. God is eternally pre-existent in the spirit (non-physical) realm, in all three persons. In other words, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit were all part of Creation. (Ge. 1:1-2, John 1:1-3, Col. Col. 1:16-17) God the Son appears in the Old Testament – before His miraculous birth via the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary – a number of times as the Angel of the Lord. This is how He wrestled with Jacob, how He likely made the animal skins for Adam and Eve, and so on.

The Koran/Qur‘an, on the other hand, makes it very clear that Muslims believe Allah has no son. The idea of Allah having a son is “blasphemous” and a “monstrous falsehood” (18:46, 9:30-31) to them. Muslims are told, “[F]ight everyone who rejects Islam, even Christians and Jews, until they pay regular financial tribute with willing submission and feel themselves completely subjected to their Islamic conquerors.” (9:29) While the Koran/Qur’an says to say that they are the same (29:46), elsewhere it considers this a lie, and in fact states that Christians and Jews are the “worst creatures on earth.” (98:6) It says that Allah is “too majestic” to have a son. (4:171-172)

This goes opposite the Bible in a few ways.

First, Jesus commands us to love our enemies, and bless them that despitefully use us. (Mat. 5:44, etc.) We are to be known by our love, and not fight each other. Many places, that great unconditional love is proclaimed. Yes, evil people who refused to follow Jesus have tried to conquer claiming to be doing it for God, any a close reading of the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ commanded His followers to show Godly compassion to others. God is longsuffering toward us; while he is holy and must punish sin, He is also faithful to save the souls of any who call upon Him, and take them to His perfect heaven, even if – like the thief on the cross – they have forfeited their chances in this world. Sin has consequences, but God is love.

Second, it goes against the Bible’s insistence that Jesus is totally equal with God. He and the Father are one. (John 10:30) he is God’s only begotten Son (John 3:16, etc.), which means that He is of the same substance – that’s what Son of God means. Yes, there is the relational aspect as humans understand it – but Jesus is never seen, in the Bible, as being inferior. Everywhere, He is shown to be the one and only God. He simply chose to step down from His Heavenly throne to this world, in order to die for our sins, and rose from the death, defeating the devil once and for all.

A few other aspects:

The one above is crucial. There are too many differences to cover here, but a topical study of the Koran/Qur’an would be quite rewarding. For now, let‘s look at just a few short ones, which you may view more yourself:

Personal God of love:

That part about being too majestic comes from their concept that God can‘t be approached. However, the Bible says otherwise. God is very personal, and in fact, wants a personal relationship with each of us. He wants us to take all our cares and worries and burdens to Him. (Mat. 11:28-30, 1 Peter 5:7, etc.). He understands all of what we go through (Heb. 4:15-16), because He lived a sinless life, bearing our sins (1 Peter 2:24) – so He lived, but never sinned, thus He can help us through whatever we’re tempted by.

He is a personal God of love, too – this means He is always moved with compassion and will not only never tempt us beyond what we are able, he will provide a way out for us. He will lovingly guide us according to what is best for each of us.

Sacrifice for our sins:

A great archaeologist named William Ramsey set out to prove the Bible wrong, and wound up finding Luke to be an incredible historian who got all his facts right. One of those facts that Luke and the other Bible writers note is that Jesus willing gave himself for us. Because he was God, He could have come down from the cross – He could have called 10,000 angels. Yes, another man had to carry the cross part of the way, but this was very common – quite a few people never survived the scourging before they were crucified, and Jesus didn’t have the strong, broad shoulders that the thieves who were crucified often had. Jesus clearly died on that cross, then rose from the dead. Indeed, among early believers were likely his two sons – otherwise, it’s not likely they would have been mentioned.

Compassion, not honor:

Among some Muslims, there is a form of law called sharia,. This law boasts no compassion when it comes to the treatment of women. It is all about honor. On the other hand, jesus and His followers insisted that women be honored, and when he came across an adulteress, He pardoned her. Jesus constantly forgave sins.

It can be argued, of course, that this law – like some unorthodox Christian teachings – isn’t in the Koran/Qur’an. What’s important, though, is that believers in Christianity are admonished to loves their wives as Christ loved the church. And, if someone sins against another, the only one at fault is the one who sinned, not the victim. God consistently has compassion on those who suffer. The Bible also clearly says that men should love their wives as Christ loved the church (Eph. 5:25); and He was constantly giving Himself for it.

Indeed, elsewhere, we read that God is no respecter of persons, and that all are equal in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28) – there is no disparity between man and woman, except in how men are called to be the spiritual leaders. But, this doesn’t give man the right to walk all over a woman, and when the man won’t or can’t lead a family spiritually, a woman can still become great for doing so. (2 Kings 4:8 onward)

Another excellent article, which contains facts from The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Edition 15, Volumes 22 & 25, discussing how the ecumenical movement has discusses things such as the origin of Islam. There is also much evidence for the truths of the Old Testament, and the people mentioned therein – evidence which is being destroyed.

However, the important thing to remember is this:

The God of the Bible, the Creator and sustainer, loves you. He is not the same as that of Islam. Instead, He is a personal, loving, and caring God, who deliberately came to this world and died on the cross, rising from the dead so we could go to Heaven.

He doesn’t require anything of us but our faith. To get to Heaven, one must: A. Admit your status as a sinner, that you fall short of God’s perfect glory, and that this means you can’t get into His perfect heaven on your own; B. Believe that Jesus Christ, God in flesh, was born of a virgin, took the punishment for your sins when He died on the cross, and then rose victoriously from the dead; and, C. Choose to repent of your sins – that is, agree with god about your sin – and receive him as your Savior by simple faith. For by grace are ye saved by faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not of works, lest any man should boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

God will never just weigh things in a balance the way other religions claim. No sin at all can get into heaven. The Bible is true when it says, “Ye must be born again.” (John 3:3) This concept is not present is Islam. It is the truth that God, in His perfect love, only wants us to come to Him and accept that we need Him to forgive us and save us, and to then receive that forgiveness by faith, letting Him make us new on the inside. Then, we will no longer be slaves to self, but we will be free. And, we can be certain – because, He wants us to be sure, and to know that just by believing – receiving Him by faith (John 20:31, 1 John 5:13) – we can have life forever with Him, now and in Heaven, where nobody suffers, nobody feels pain, nobody dies, and where nobody can imagine the wonders that await us.

Shining Perspective

“that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lust and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” ~Ephesians 5:22-24

It’s 7am already? How does that happen so fast? I get up every day at 5am. Well, at least I wake up at that time. On some days it takes more prayer to get out of bed than other days. I have quite a routine. I pray and put my armor on. (Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ~Ephesians 6:11) I give Jesus the throne of my heart before my feet hit the floor every morning. Somehow there are still days when all of the steps I take, don’t quite seem to be enough to “put off” the old woman and “put on” the new woman.

Last week I had one of those days. You know, the days when every tiny detail seems to be irritating; one frustration after another. My son has been on a trend of not getting up, not following directions and just being five years old with no concept of time. On this day, the morning was full of whining, arguing, complaining about the T-shirt selection, and confrontation about the toys he wanted to bring for the car ride. You name it; he had a problem with it.

The stress has been mounting in my home as we are getting close to the deadline of moving. It is starting to affect us all. We haven’t moved in seven years which means, we didn’t have Isaiah the last time we moved. I find it quite challenging just to try and continue with the everyday routine of getting off to work and school, while everything is a disaster.

My son is not a morning person; at least not for the first half hour of his eyes being opened. I repeat myself a LOT and he gives my patience muscle a good workout. I’ve been more sleep deprived than usual (which is a scary thought, since I don’t get enough sleep anyway) add to that the stress of moving and I lost control.

I finally gave into the frustration of asking this child over and over again to do the same thing. I could hear myself yelling at him. I felt myself giving into the old way I used to deal with him; the way I chose not to deal with him now. By the time I got him into the car, and finally got us buckled in, I realized that God doesn’t yell at me when I make poor choices or when I make mistakes, not even when I disobey.

On the way to school our routine includes prayer for the day. I’m open with Isaiah. I pray whatever needs to be prayed for. On this day my son heard me repent, ask for forgiveness, lay down my stress and be renewed in the few minutes that I prayed. I surrendered it all to the Lord. I praise God for the opportunities as they arise, to show him where my strength comes from. God isn’t angry like I was on that morning, (…let every man be quick to listen but slow to use his tongue, and slow to lose his temper. For man’s temper is never the means of achieving God’s true goodness. James 1:19-20 Phillips)

The Lord gently calls and waits for me to come to the end of myself. (This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:15-16) His fountain of forgiveness and grace never runs dry.

By the time I dropped Isaiah off at school, we had both received our attitude adjustments, apologized and our day was set right. I got back into the car and the radio was singing: “…I don’t’ have to carry the weight of who I’ve been cause I’m forgiven…” I could only thank the Lord, I knew those words to be true and on that morning they were being sung just for me; I’ve been forgiven of all my past, present and future sins. (But if we freely admit that we have sinned, we find him utterly reliable and just—he forgives our sins and makes us thoroughly clean from all that is evil. 1 John 1:9 Phillips)

Have you come boldly to the throne of grace?

Shining Perspective

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”~Matthew 19:26

Miracles come in all shapes and sizes. How quickly I can forget the miracles that God has richly blessed me with. Recently I have experienced so much of God’s grace. The precious gift of God’s grace is truly a miracle that is so easily taken for granted. His hand has guided my every step and even when I had nothing to put forth, God filled up the space with His amazing grace.

I have come to the end of my first challenging semester in college. I think going back to school after taking 15 years off is a struggle in itself. Taking two classes and a lab, working full time, being a wife, a mother and having all of the commitments that go along with those rolls is well, crazy to say the least. Of course, I didn’t see any reason why I couldn’t do it. I know now it was not the wisest choice to take two classes. I could have just taken one class. However, I would have missed an opportunity to watch Romans 8:28 in action. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” I watched God make all things work together for my good. I would have missed out on the immense grace that overflowed throughout every difficult day that I put one foot in front of the other. Psalm 34:8 says “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” I saw, felt, tasted and tested God’s promise for myself. By trusting God I was touched by him in a way I never would have been, if I had not made the decisions I did. Some people might say I just took a leap of faith.

How is it so easy to forget? How can you possibly forget in such a short amount of time?  Circumstances come and knock you around and before you know it they are in the spotlight and somehow you have lost sight of the miraculous events that you have been privileged to taste. I witnessed the Lord’s hand upon all that I had been doing for months. I watched in awe as I would pass a test I had no business passing. I felt His overwhelming presence as I sat through the exam. I knew every time I received a test back, the Lord gave me that grade. There is no way possible that I could accomplish what I have. Only by the grace of God could I successfully have made it through this semester.

I still forgot. I let circumstances such as, being sick, the stress of preparing for Christmas (yes, Christmas, you know the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, the Prince of Peace) and the everyday chaos of this world blind me from the miraculous grace I had experienced. I let the circumstances that arose, change my view.

I have been miserable because I have been focusing on my circumstances and allowing them to dictate all my choices, my mood, my life. Today, I went online to see what books I needed to order for next semester. Once I was there, I was distracted; or shall I say God had something for me to see. I ran across my grades for the semester. That is when I was reminded how amazing God has been to me and how grateful I am for what I had just experienced. My joy is in full bloom as I count the blessings of the lessons I have learned. My hope is renewed as I relive the moments where God held my hand and once again did not fail me. My faith has grown as I have seen firsthand that God makes all things work together for my good, even when I make poor decisions.

What miracles has God done in your life? Are you counting them? Or are you letting them get lost in your circumstances? God is faithful and there is nothing too hard for him. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23 What do you believe? Have you tasted and seen for yourself how great the love of God is?